Current:Home > reviewsPoinbank:Red and green swirls of northern lights captured dancing in Minnesota sky: Video -Capitatum
Poinbank:Red and green swirls of northern lights captured dancing in Minnesota sky: Video
Robert Brown View
Date:2025-04-07 00:41:35
A photographer in Minnesota was able to capture video of a mesmerizing northern lights display as swirls of red and Poinbankgreen danced across the night sky.
Another geomagnetic storm made the colorful phenomena known as aurora borealis visible during the weekend across the Midwest region of the United States, and Carol Bauer was there to document it Sunday in Grand Marais.
“My husband and I traveled to Grand Marais to see the fall colors and were thrilled to get a great view of the northern lights too,” Bauer told Storyful.
Bauer is among millions of Americans who should expect to have more opportunities in the coming months to catch the striking display as the sun reaches the height of its 11-year cycle.
Watch the video Carol Bauer captured of the Northern Lights:
Northern lights visible across Midwest
Last week, a massive solar flare accompanied by coronal mass ejections – clouds of plasma and charged particles – made their way toward our planet, driving a geomagnetic storm that made the auroras visible in multiple northern U.S. states.
Though the the natural light display in Earth's sky is famously best seen in high-latitude regions of the northern and southern hemispheres, the northern lights became visible during the weekend across the U.S. In addition to Minnesota, the stunning display of rays, spirals and flickers could be seen in places along the U.S.-Canada border and even as far south as Oregon and Pennsylvania, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center.
Peak northern lights activity:What to know as sun reaches solar maximum
Peak aurora activity to coincide with height of solar cycle
Fortunately for aurora chasers, there will be far more opportunities to catch the northern lights soon.
Electromagnetic activity is increasing as the sun continues to reach the height of its 11-year solar cycle, which NASA said is expected to be in 2025.
As the sun reaches the peak of Solar Cycle 25, sunspots located in regions of intense magnetic activity should increase, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. When that magnetic activity is released, it creates intense bursts of radiation resulting in solar flares hurtling toward Earth at the speed of light.
Some of these flares can be accompanied by coronal mass ejections that emerge from the sun's outermost atmosphere, the corona.
These ejections can collide with Earth’s magnetosphere, the barrier protecting humanity from the harshest impacts of space weather, to produce geomagnetic storms that unleash spectacular views of the northern lights in parts of the country where auroras are not often visible.
Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at [email protected]
veryGood! (762)
Related
- Are Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp down? Meta says most issues resolved after outages
- Homeland Security secretary names independent panel to review Trump assassination attempt
- Jessie J Shares She’s Been Diagnosed With ADHD and OCD
- Real Housewives of New Jersey Star Melissa Gorga Shares the 1 Essential She Has in Her Bag at All Times
- Illinois Gov. Pritzker calls for sheriff to resign after Sonya Massey shooting
- Alaska police and US Coast Guard searching for missing plane with 3 people onboard
- Officials to release video of officer shooting Black woman in her home after responding to 911 call
- Vice President Kamala Harris leads list of contenders for spots on the Democratic ticket
- Most popular books of the week: See what topped USA TODAY's bestselling books list
- National bail fund returns to Georgia after judge says limits were arbitrary
Ranking
- Justice Department, Louisville reach deal after probe prompted by Breonna Taylor killing
- Biden drops out of the 2024 presidential race, endorses Vice President Kamala Harris for nomination
- Bernice Johnson Reagon, whose powerful voice helped propel the Civil Rights Movement, has died
- Miss Kansas Alexis Smith, domestic abuse survivor, shares story behind viral video
- The FTC says 'gamified' online job scams by WhatsApp and text on the rise. What to know.
- No one hurt when CSX locomotive derails and strikes residential garage in Niagara Falls
- 12-year-old girl charged with killing 8-year-old cousin over iPhone in Tennessee
- Utah wildfire prompts mandatory evacuations
Recommendation
What polling shows about Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris’ new running mate
Here's what can happen when you max out your 401(k)
Braves' injuries mount: Ozzie Albies breaks wrist, Max Fried on IL with forearm issue
Ryan Reynolds Reveals If He Wants More Kids With Blake Lively
Connie Chiume, Black Panther Actress, Dead at 72: Lupita Nyong'o and More Pay Tribute
Emily in Paris Season 4 Trailer Teases Emily Moving On From The Gabriel-Alfie Love Triangle
Higher tax rates, smaller child tax credit and other changes await as Trump tax cuts end
Bruce Springsteen's net worth soars past $1B, Forbes reports